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<body><h1>WindowBuilder User Guide</h1>
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<b><br>
WindowBuilder</b> is a powerful and easy to use bi-directional Java
GUI designer that makes it very easy to create Java GUI applications without
spending a lot of time writing code to display simple forms. With <b>WindowBuilder 
</b> you can create complicated&nbsp;windows in minutes. Use the 
<a href="userinterface/design_view.html">visual designer</a>
and <a href="userinterface/source_view.html">Java code</a> will be generated for you. You can easily add controls using
drag-and-drop, add <a href="features/event_handling.html">event handlers</a> to your controls, change various properties of
controls using a <a href="userinterface/property_pane.html">property editor</a>, 
<a href="features/internationalization.html">internationalize</a>
your app and&nbsp;much more.<p><b>WindowBuilder</b> is built as a plug-in to <a href="http://www.eclipse.org" target="_blank">
Eclipse</a>
and the various Eclipse-based IDEs (RAD, RSA, MyEclipse, JBuilder, etc.). The 
plug-in builds an abstract syntax tree (AST) to navigate the source code and 
uses <a href="http://www.eclipse.org/gef/" target="_blank">GEF</a>
to display and manage the visual presentation.
<p align="justify">Using WYSIWYG layout tools, you don't need to write any lines 
of java code - the code will be generated for you by <b>WindowBuilder</b>. You 
can easily add any component to a container by using drag-and-drop, add an <a href="features/event_handling.html">
event handler</a> to your controls, change various properties of controls using 
property editors and&nbsp;much more. Generated code doesn't require any additional 
custom libraries to compile and run: all of the generated code can be used 
without having
<b>WindowBuilder</b> installed. <b>WindowBuilder</b> can read and write almost 
any format and reverse-engineer most hand-written Java GUI code. It also 
supports free form code editing (make changes anywhere...not just in <i>special</i>
areas) and most user refactorings (you can move, rename and subdivide methods 
without a problem).</p>
<p>The editor is composed of the following major 
<a href="userinterface/index.html">user interface</a> components:</p>
<ul>
	<li><b><a href="userinterface/design_view.html">Design View</a></b> - the main visual 
	layout area.</li>
	<li><b><a href="userinterface/source_view.html">Source View</a></b> - write 
	code and review the generated code</li>
	<li><b><a href="userinterface/structure_view.html">Structure View</a></b> - composed of 
	the <b>
	Component Tree</b> and the <b>
	Property Pane.</b><ul>
		<li><b><a href="userinterface/component_tree.html">Component Tree</a></b> - shows the 
		hierarchical relationship between all of the components.</li>
		<li><b><a href="userinterface/property_pane.html">Property Pane</a></b> - displays properties and events of the selected 
		components.</li>
	</ul>
	</li>
	<li><b><a href="userinterface/palette.html">Palette</a></b> - provides quick access to toolkit-specific 
	components.</li>
	<li><b><a href="userinterface/toolbar.html">Toolbar</a></b> - provides access to commonly 
	used commands.</li>
	<li><b><a href="userinterface/context_menu.html">Context Menu</a></b> - provides access to 
	commonly used commands.</li>
</ul>

<p>The editor also offers the following <a href="features/index.html">major features</a>:</p>
<ul>
	<li><b><a href="features/bidirectional.html">Bi-directional Code Generation</a> 
	- </b>read and write almost any format and reverse-engineer most 
	hand-written code</li>
	<li><b><a href="features/internationalization.html">Internationalization (i18n) / 
	Localization</a> - </b>externalize component strings, create and manage 
	resource bundles.</li>
	<li><b><a href="features/custom_composites.html">Custom Composites &amp; Panels</a></b> - 
	create custom, reusable components.</li>
	<li><b><a href="features/factories.html">Factories</a></b> - create custom factory 
	classes and methods.</li>
	<li><b><a href="features/visual_inheritance.html">Visual Inheritance</a></b> - create 
	visual component hierarchies.</li>
	<li><b><a href="features/event_handling.html">Event Handling</a></b> - add event 
	handlers to your components.</li>
	<li><b><a href="features/menu_editing.html">Menu Editing</a></b> - visually create 
	and edit menubars, menu items and popup menus.</li>
	<li><b><a href="features/morphing.html">Morphing</a></b> - convert one component type 
	into another.</li>
</ul>

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